6 Powerful Jewish Travel Experiences to Remember
When you travel abroad, do you try to incorporate Judaism into your visits to other countries? There a myriad ways to experience Jewish life, culture, and, especially, history while traveling outside North America.
Shabbat: A Time to Sing and a Time to Listen
Often, it’s unrealistic to go from our hectic daily life to Shabbat without a buffer between the two – time to take a breath, adjust, unwind, and re-orient our thinking.
Helping Teens Understand Where They Fit in the Jewish Story
NFTY in Israel teens ask one basic question: How did Jews stay together over so much time? Retracing our history helps them find the glue that connects them to the story.
Let Me Clarify: I’m Not a Rabbi!
I am not a rabbi, but some people think I am, in fact, a rabbi – specifically, the rabbi of the synagogue where I am a member, a volunteer lay leader, and a teacher.
How and Why We Must Advocate for a Just Immigration System
The mass raids planned for this weekend in immigrant communities are heartbreaking, heartless, immoral, and bad public policy.
Attempt to Enter the Promised Land, Take One: Fail
The end of this week's parashah includes some short, but memorable pieces of legislation: the explanation for why we tithe a little dough when making challah (Numbers 15:20-21); the killing of the man who gathered wood on Shabbat (Numbers 15:32-36); and the instructions to wear tzitzit w
Fateful Words Can Have Fatal Consequences
The Jewish people's turbulent saga of disillusionment with liberation takes a new and momentarily promising turn this Shabbat, with a foray into the land of Canaan by twelve scouts.
I Will Shelter You
Way back in July 1990, when my daughter Katie was two years old, Ellen turned to our little girl and said, "Tell Daddy something he doesn't know." Katie whispered, smiling shyly, "Today is Mommy's birthday." Can you say doghouse?
How Do We Make God Holy?
The point of being Jewish is to have a relationship with God. Yet, a relationship implies a certain give and take, and there is precious little in the Torah that talks about what we have that God could possibly need. What can we give to God?
Tearing a Hole in Being
At the end of Parashat Emor, a disturbing incident is related. In the heat of a fight, a man curses God and is stoned to death for blasphemy (Leviticus 24:10-23). It is understandable that readers may be repulsed by this narrative, and shocked and angry to find it in the Torah.